Overview
- A ministry spokesperson confirmed the cancellation of the planned BAFA construction in Weißwasser after a fresh viability review.
- Staffing at the site stood at 250 by the end of 2025, short of the 350 positions originally pledged, with 34 fewer roles than the prior year as fixed-term contracts expired.
- Görlitz district chief Stephan Meyer and Bundestag member Florian Oest have written to Chancellor Friedrich Merz, insisting there be no cuts to the promised headcount or the planned investment.
- Local officials are weighing alternatives such as renovating the former Glasfachschule for BAFA use, though it is unclear whether refurbishment would cost less than the scrapped new build on the Gelsdorf glassworks site.
- Opened in 2020 as a flagship Lausitz structural-change project, the Weißwasser office remains an external branch of BAFA, whose main headquarters is in Eschborn.